E 241 
.P9 H37 



ADDRESS 



OF THE 



PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES 



AT THE 



DEDICATION OF THE BATTLE 
MONUMENT 

PRINCETON, N. J. 



]une 9, 1922 




2-2.-'^4>^~^/ 



WASHINGTON 
1922 




£"2 4- I 

.P9 hi ^1 



L\\!iu\ '■ 



RECEIVED 



JUL 261922 I 

DOCUMENTS OlVi^SIO., 

i n i r * ' J 



ADDRESS. 



My Fellow Americans : 

We have come here to say the formal words of dedication and con- 
secration before a monument in granite and marble. But we stand, 
to say those words, in the presence of another monument, which is 
the true memorial to the events we celebrate. The real monument to 
the achievement of Washington's patriot arm}' in the Trenton-Prince- 
ton campaign, is not in workings of bronze or carvings of stone. It 
rears itself in the institutions of liberty and representative govern- 
ment, now big in the vision of all mankind. 

In the presence of such a monument, we can do no better than con- 
secrate ourselves to the cause in which at this place the soul of 
genius and the spirit of sacrifice, shone forth with steadfast radiance. 
On no other battle-ground, in presence of no other memorial of 
heroism, could we find more assuring illumination for our hopes, our 
anticipations, our confidence. Here the genius of General Washing- 
ton reached the height of its brilliancy in action. Here his followers 
wrote their highest testimony of valor. Here liberty-seeking de- 
votion struggled through privation and unbelievable exertion, to 
gain the heights. The crimsoned prints of numbed and bleeding 
feet marked the route a pathwa}' to eternal glory. Thither they 
trudged through storm and torrent; but from here, in the hour of 
victory, went out winged messengers to let all men know that 
liberty was safe in the keeping of her sons. 

Point me the field of strife, to which have converged more roads 
that led through discouragement, calamity, and all justification for 
despair ! And point me, next, that field from whence radiated so 
manj' highways of the bouyant heart, the confident hope, the indomit- 
able purpose, the will to win ! Take down the tomes, thumb all the 
blackest, all the fairest pages, and tell me where you read of nobler, 
finer. — aye, or more fruitful — sacrifices of men for their fellows ! 

Here, among you to wliom the traditions of those events are a 
sacred trust, is no place for recounting the discouragement of the 
patriot cause, the low ebb of continental fortunes, the seeming that 
final disaster could not long be stayed. Almost from the day, in the 
preceding summer, when the great Declaration had been issued, 
misfortune had followed on misfortune's heel — Long Island, the loss 

108859—22 ( 3 ) 



of New York, the surrender of the Hudson forts, the retreat across 
New Jersey, the refuge in Pennsylvania. It was all leading toward 
the seemingl}' inevitable end. The army was crumbling, only civil 
authority pretended to maintain any central organ. The enemy de- 
layed to finish his task, only because he was so certain of his quarry 
that haste would be unseemly. 

And then, the flash of Washington's defiance ! The crossing of 
the Delaware in storm and ice floes; the march, and the delays which 
made it impossible to effect a night attack and a complete surprise; 
Washington's stern and fateful decision to press on and stake every- 
thing on the issue ; finally, the attack, and the victory. 

Brilliant as was the accomplishment, Washington, on the Jersey 
side, Avas faced presently hj the superior strength of the now con- 
solidated British forces. At last his rival was sure of " the old fox." 
Then came the strategic withdraAval by Washington, at night, in 
secret, from his line on the Assunpink Creek, the flanking march 
to Princeton, and the second surprise and defeat of the enemy. In 
the narratiA-e of those magnificent winter days of marching and fight- 
ing, surprises and victories, one finds the truest presentation of the 
indomitable spirit which sustained, and, at last, won the Revolution. 

It is not often that the precise importance and significance of a 
particular military detail can be so accurately appraised, as it can 
regarding the mid-winter campaign of Trenton-Princeton. Tlie 
promulgation of the Declaration of Independence had moved the 
British authorities to especially determined efforts for quick sup- 
pression of the revolution. To them, it was vitally important that 
the fires of revolt be smothered before the new feeling of nationality 
had risen to make the Colonists realize the substantial unity of their 
cause and their interests. The strategy of the British invasion of 
New Jersey has been bitterly criticized many times, but it must al- 
ways be remembered that there is an intimate relationship between 
political conditions and military operations, and that in this case the 
political situation was certain to depend very greatly on military 
developments. The destruction of Washington's arm}' would almost 
have snuffed out the revolution. It would have given a demonstra- 
tion of the overwhelming preponderance of British power, which 
( ven the most stout-hearted patriot would have found difficult to 
deny. On the other hand, Washington perceived both the military 
and tlie political opportunity presented to him in the disposition of 
the enemy's forces. There was a desperate chance to win a telling 
Aiotory wliich would convert the New Jersey campaign into a dis- 
aster for the enemy: and there was also the possibility of winning 
a political victory by demonstrating the capacity of American 
leadership and American soldiers to outwit and outfight veterans of 
European battlefields. 



Washington, who was at once soldier, politician and statesman, 
recognized all these possibilities. He seized the opportunity, he 
turned it completely to his own advantage, and thereby inspired 
his army and the country behind him with a new confidence in 
themselves. Years afterward, Lord Cornwallis, and the members 
of his staff, were given a dinner by General Washington, following 
the surrender at Yorktown. The compliments of the occasion were 
exchanged in a manner so gracious and amiable that, as we read 
of it now, it is difficult to realize all their significance. Among the 
Test, Lord Cornwallis made a speech in which he paid his com- 
pliments to the military genius of Washington. Comparing the 
Yorktown campaign with the Trenton-Princeton operation, he de- 
clared, turning to General Washington, and bowing profoundly, that, 
""When history shall have made up its verdict, the fairest laurels 
will be gathered for your Excellency, not from the shores of the 
Chesapeake, but from the banks of the Delaware." Cornwallis re- 
garded the Trenton-Princeton campaign as the crowning glory of 
the Washington military career ; and we do not need to be reminded 
of the verdict of Frederick the Great, who ranked the Trenton- 
Princeton campaign as the most brilliant of which he had knowledge. 

When we view the course of human affairs from the detached 
standpoint of history's student, we are amazed to discover how 
seldom a particular military operation has determined the results of 
a campaign or the outcome of a great war. Wars are writ very big 
in history: very much bigger sometimes than they deserve to be. 
Battles have seldom decided the fates of peoples. The real story of 
human progress is written elsewhere than on the world's battlefields, 
and war and conflict have provided rather its punctuation than its 
theme. But among the exceptions, among the cases in which a par- 
ticular conflict has had consequences and reverberations far greater 
in their potency than could possibly be imagined from a considera- 
tion of the numbers engaged or the immediate results, none stands 
out more distinctly than does the Trenton-Princeton campaign. We 
cannot say that the cause of independence and union would have been 
lost without it ; but we must find ourselves at a loss if we attempt to 
picture the successful conclusion of the revolution, had there been"^ 
another and different issue from the struggle of those hard, mid- 
winter days. 

The climax of that desperate adventure came on the field of 
Princeton. Trenton had been an almost complete surprise, an easy 
victory. Princeton was a desperately contested engagement whose 
immediate result included not only an enheartening of the patriot 
cause, but a profound discouragement to those on the other side of 
the Atlantic, who were responsible for the continuation of the war. 



So you have erected here at Princeton a fitting memorial to the 
heroes and heroism of that day. We bring and lay at its foot the 
laurel wreaths which gratitude and patriotic sentiment will always 
dedicate to those who have borne the heat and burden of the con- 
flict. Let us believe that their example in all of the future may be, 
as thus far it has been, a glorious inspiration to our country. 



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